Having luck with PPC Bookbub ads? Anyone?

[NeverGiveUp]

I just put my ams ads on hold today to test out some Bookbub ads. Anyone out there have experience or tips? Getting some impressions now, but no clicks yet. Wondering if I need to up my bids.

[liveswithbirds]

If you're not getting clicks, it could be due to a number of things -- image, copy, whether the book is free/discount/full price, etc.


How much are you bidding? I've only scratched the surface of BB ads, but I usually stick to the middle of the range suggested for my targeting. I'll probably keep it there and do A/B testing for other metrics first.


Have you checked out BB's blog? They have lots of articles there on how to make your ads more effective. Here's one recent article for starters.


Good luck!

[Simon Haynes]

Just curious here, but has anyone tried a PPC ad with a really large daily budget? (What I consider a large budget, anyway.)

I usually specify $5-$20 per day and run them for a few days, but I was considering a blast of $100 or even $200.

If I did that for 2-3 days straight, I'd certainly have some figures to analyse.

I realise that would cost almost as much as running a bookbub, except:

PPC ads don't have any barrier to entry.
I can advertise a $2.99 book, rather than a 99c one.
It's spread out, not all on one day.

And also, being CPC, I'm going to get something for my money even if that's only 400-500 clicks.

[guest14]

Just curious here, but has anyone tried a PPC ad with a really large daily budget? (What I consider a large budget, anyway.)

I usually specify $5-$20 per day and run them for a few days, but I was considering a blast of $100 or even $200.

If I did that for 2-3 days straight, I'd certainly have some figures to analyse.

I realise that would cost almost as much as running a bookbub, except:

PPC ads don't have any barrier to entry.
I can advertise a $2.99 book, rather than a 99c one.
It's spread out, not all on one day.

And also, being CPC, I'm going to get something for my money even if that's only 400-500 clicks.

You can but try.

I think it's extremely difficult to gauge the potential response on BB CPC (or any CPC). Mainly because I think there are so many variables. Advert, genre, blurb, cover, etc.,  I've done a few and had moderate success, but then I saw the CPC rising and I had to increase it to compete and suddenly had that 'Hello, that's interesting' kind of feeling where you begin to think the algo's are pushing you to pay more. I don't fully trust this form of marketing in that it sets author against author and even when there isn't that, the algo will step in and push you higher anyway if it thinks you can/will/want/need.

[NathanBurrows]

I just wish there was a tangible way to measure ROI from them, rather than having to guess. I don’t really want to take my AMS ads down to try to measure it.

[Simon Haynes]

I just wish there was a tangible way to measure ROI from them, rather than having to guess. I don’t really want to take my AMS ads down to try to measure it.

I'm wide, so I could create an ad and target Kobo Canada (for example)

By the same token, you could target the UK or Canada or Australia instead of the US.

[NathanBurrows]

I just wish there was a tangible way to measure ROI from them, rather than having to guess. I don’t really want to take my AMS ads down to try to measure it.

I'm wide, so I could create an ad and target Kobo Canada (for example)

By the same token, you could target the UK or Canada or Australia instead of the US.

That’s exactly what I am doing - one ad for each region, targeting kindle (I’m not wide). So while I can compare CTR between the regions, I have no way of identifying the origins of sales (BB versus AMS versus organic).

[Simon Haynes]

I just wish there was a tangible way to measure ROI from them, rather than having to guess. I don’t really want to take my AMS ads down to try to measure it.

I'm wide, so I could create an ad and target Kobo Canada (for example)

By the same token, you could target the UK or Canada or Australia instead of the US.

That’s exactly what I am doing - one ad for each region, targeting kindle (I’m not wide). So while I can compare CTR between the regions, I have no way of identifying the origins of sales (BB versus AMS versus organic).

Fair enough. Is there an AMS for CA and AU though?

[NathanBurrows]

Fair enough. Is there an AMS for CA and AU though?

Canada - looks like it. Need to set up a new account though - I might have a look at this later.

https://advertising.amazon.ca/products/sponsored-ads

Australia - if there is, I can’t find it!

[Simon Haynes]

Looks like that's a setup where you can advertise products you've listed on their site. Not quite the same as AMS advertising (yet)

[NeverGiveUp]

I gotta say, things are going really well with one of my ads for, like, the first time EVER. I've turned off FB and AMS because I just wasn't getting the sell-through, not even at $0.99. With BB I've targeted a midlist author with only 89 followers on BB (???), but my ad is going like gangbusters. It's just a simple ad using the template. I've had one sale per 5 clicks. It's costing me right now, but if my read-through holds the way it usually does, I'm stoked. I started in the 100,000s yesterday, and I'm up to 9900 today.

NeverGiveUp!!!

[Alice Sabo]

Congrats NeverGiveUP! Every ad I've tried has failed for BB and AMS. Sometimes I see a slight uptick in sales, but looking back over my numbers, it might just be an organic variation. This learning curve is so steep I need an ice axe and pitons

[NathanBurrows]

Looks like that's a setup where you can advertise products you've listed on their site. Not quite the same as AMS advertising (yet)

Been looking at this tonight, and you're right. It's not available for authors - I tried signing up for a vendor account, and got an email back inviting me to express my interest in an author account with instructions to visit a link, and click on the author icon. Except there isn't one...

Amazon's been really hicky the last few days - I've been struggling trying to set up some UK AMS ads but keep getting error messages. I think they're up to something behind the scenes.